Barton's White Swan pub set to reopen after renovation

Work is taking place to restore a Barton pub and hotel, with plans to reopen it for business next year.

The White Swan, on Fleetgate, has been closed for around a year.

But after buying the freehold from previous owners Enterprise Inns, new owner Andrew Parker is looking to have it up and running again by March.

Mr Parker, 59, said: "Eventually, it will be opened as a pub. It will probably be some time next year.

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"We are concentrating on the accommodation part at the moment but hopefully around Christmas time we will start work on the bar.

"Upstairs, we have had to strip off all of the plaster and get it replastered and the bedrooms all needed doing."

Mr Parker has moved into the building with his family, as well as his daughter's family.

Originally from Bristol, he has a background in catering and has worked in Norfolk and America, as well as elsewhere in Lincolnshire.

Describing his plans for the hostelry, he said: "It will be a food and bed pub, with a British menu.

"I will be in the kitchen and cooking will be a lot better than rewiring."

The reopened White Swan will be the third Barton pub to undergo a significant refurbishment in the last year.

The Red Lion, on the High Street, reopened after a two-week revamp last month.

And The George Inn, on George Street, welcomed back customers from December last year.

It had previously been empty for 10 months.

Mr Parker said he felt pubs could still succeed, despite the difficult economic climate.

He said: "I believe there is still a future for pubs, if you get them right.

"You have got to offer people what they want these days.

"There are ones that belong to large companies which are only interested in their profit, not the pub's profit.

"And due to the recession, a lot of pubs have gone downhill and people don't turn up.

"Hopefully, in about six months, we can reverse that.

"Barton is a nice place and since we have been here, we have found it is a nice little town.

"There are still quite a few shops, whereas in a lot of parts of the country, town centres are dead. We are looking forward to our future here."